“Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus” (Jo. 21:4).
Easter is a season, not a day. Each year we get fifty days, not just one day, to tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Not only do we get a chance to tell the story, but we also get to reflect upon its significance, and what it might mean for us. What God has done in raising Jesus Christ from the dead is out of this world, and this season gives us the time to take it all in.
The stories of the disciples’ encounters with the risen Lord differ in their details, but they agree about the essential fact: that Jesus, who was crucified, was raised from the dead. He is alive (notice the present tense). Often the stories include a moment of recognition, as in our Gospel today. In other words, when the disciples first encounter Jesus they don’t recognize him. Suddenly, everything shifts as they realize who it is. In each case, there is a curious mixture of confusion, amazement, and joy.
For instance, when the two disciples encounter Jesus on the road to Emmaus, on the evening of Easter Day, they think he’s a stranger. They even engage in conversation with him (about Jesus who was crucified!) without recognizing him. It’s only when they sit down to eat together that they recognize Jesus in the familiar act of breaking the bread. “Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him” (Lk. 24:31), as Luke’s Gospel says: a moment of recognition
Then there’s the account in the twentieth chapter of John’s Gospel, when Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on Easter morning and meets the man she thinks is the gardener. “She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus” (Jo. 20:14), as we’re told. It’s only when Jesus says her name that Mary Magdalene recognizes that the “gardener” is Jesus. He shows that he knows who she is by saying her name, and suddenly she knows who he is. There is the moment of recognition.
Our Gospel this morning, from the twenty-first chapter of John, gives us another story with a similar moment. Peter and a group of disciples are fishing on the Sea of Tiberias; that is, on the lake in Galilee. It’s a bit mysterious about why they are there, and how this appearance relates to the others. But once again, “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus” (Jo. 21:4). They’re close enough to have a conversation of sorts, and for Jesus to give them some advice about fishing, but still they don’t recognize him. Suddenly they have an amazing catch of fish, and the disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter, “It is the Lord!” (Jo. 21:7).
In each case, what the disciples recognize is a person: not an idea, a concept, or even a conviction. It’s not that they come to believe that life is victorious, or that love wins, or even that Jesus’ ideas couldn’t be defeated by death. All of that might be true, of course, but what the disciples are given at Easter is something else: Jesus Christ himself, risen from the dead. What causes confusion, amazement, and joy, is that Jesus Christ is alive. With that crucial recognition, everything changes. There are suddenly new possibilities that were not present before.
The key is relationship: the familiar act of sharing a meal; the exchange of greeting by name; the mutual endeavor of shared work. All of these are ways that human beings relate. In the context of the resurrection, they are the means by which the disciples know who he is. In each case, recognition happens in relationship. In the same way, I believe, Jesus calls us into living relationship now through our own encounter with him.
Consider the next part of the story. After the miraculous catch of fish, the disciples share a meal with Jesus on the beach. After the meal is finished, the resurrected Lord engages Peter in a dialogue. Jesus asks him three times whether he loves him, and each time Peter replies, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you” (Jo. 21:15). So each time Jesus tells him to either tend or feed the sheep. In this conversation and dialogue, we discover that in relationship with Jesus, there is love to be shared, and work to be done.
In the same way, we will engage our confirmands this morning in a similar dialogue: about their willingness to reaffirm their renunciation of evil, and to renew their commitment to Jesus Christ. It’s not too different from the dialogue that Jesus has with Peter. All of us in the congregation will have a chance to join in this dialogue with other questions and responses, committing ourselves once again to the love of God and neighbor, among a number of other things. All of which points to the work we are called to by the living Lord. There is love to be shared and work to be done. Remember how Jesus’ dialogue with Peter ends, with the words “Follow me” (Jo. 21:19).
All of this is possible through our recognition that Jesus is alive and that we are in relationship with him. Our celebration of the Eucharist, and this celebration of confirmation, are our moment of recognition, as we recommit ourselves to the One who is not an idea, a concept, or even a conviction, but most importantly a person who is alive again. God raised him from the dead and gave him back to us. Because he lives, we too will live, and reign with him in glory.